Playdate

The past week slipped away from me before I knew it. Tab's birthday was on Tuesday, and I spent the rest of the week either outside basking in the springlike weather or inside working on a deadline for the Press.

In honor of his birthday, Tab took Tuesday afternoon off. We stopped by the Princeton Battlefield on our way home to pay our last respects to the Mercer Oak. It was no more than a stump by then, the rest of the tree having been sawed up and carted away last Saturday by whoever is in charge of such things. I wanted a souvenir, so I looked around the ground for pieces of the tree. Stephen and Matthew eagerly helped, collecting handfuls of twigs for me.

I was glad that Tab was home Tuesday afternoon to stay with the twins for an hour because I wanted to pick up a rather special birthday present for him. I had planned to buy him the Kama Sutra collection of scented/flavored massage oils at the Secret Garden, a female-friendly adult store. It's located over a florist shop, is staffed by women, and is (I imagine) less sleazy than the average sex shop; still, there are items on display that made me blush. Penis-shaped lipstick? Uh, no.

Needless to say, it's not a store I could take the boys to. I can just imagine their big eyes and their questions:

"Mama, what's that thing?"

I'm not ready to explain to them that grownups have their own toys, too.

Today Daniel had his best friend Danny over for a long-awaited playdate. Danny was supposed to have come over last weekend, but his little sister, only three months old, was rushed to the hospital last Friday with complications from a virus. Fortunately, she's better now.

Stephen and Matthew think of Danny as their friend, too, because they see him every day at school when we drop off and pick up Daniel. They were even more excited about his visit than Daniel and desperately wanted to be included in the older boys' fun.

"Danny, come see my room!" Stephen begged.

"Want to play Legos with me, Danny?" Matthew asked.

Daniel, who is understandably possessive of his friend, threw his brothers out of his room. Instead of banding together in their mutual sorrow, Stephen and Matthew turned on each other. Perhaps each blamed the other for being rejected by the older boys. Matthew was crying and yelling at Stephen who was crying and yelling right back.

I cheered them up by offering to play a game of Candyland with them. Candyland has to be one of the most boring games ever, but the twins love it. I'm looking forward to when they are ready for more challenging board games.

Afterward, Stephen went upstairs and knocked on Daniel's door. "Daniel! I want to tell you something!"

I heard some muttering from within the room, then Danny stuck his head out. "Daniel's not available right now," he said to Stephen.

I had to laugh, but Stephen was not so amused. Fortunately, Tab decided to take the twins with him on some errands and so Daniel was able to have his friend to himself for the rest of the day.

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